This invention relates to a set or pair of test probes which come into contact with electrical components, in order to carry electrical signals from test points in an electrical circuit to a measurement instrument such as a volt-ohm meter or VOM.
Test probes typically occur in pairs. One of them, normally red in color, the other normally black in color. Usually, a technician holds one probe in one hand and the other probe in the other hand in order to take a reading. This, unfortunately, occupies both hands of the technician leaving no spare hand to hold the volt-ohm meter or flashlight to assist in making sure of the correct contact points in the circuit or to hold the readout display of the volt-ohm meter for the optimum viewing angle for the technician. However, many times the two contact points are in close proximity, so that a technician could hold both probes in one hand if there were a secure way to do so, thus freeing up the other hand to hold the meter, a flashlight or electrical schematic diagram.
Prior art has failed to solve this problem. Although there have been tweezer style probe pairs that are designed to be held with one hand, they are small, designed for taking very closely spaced readings on printed circuit boards and are not designed to separate into two separate probes when needed. Furthermore, the tweezer style probes normally have a maximum separation of less than one inch, severely limiting the types of readings they can take.
In this invention, the probe tip distance between the probe pairs can be varied from touching each other to several inches apart when operated in the joined mode; and, when the distance between measuring points exceeds the available several inches that the joined probes can be spread apart, then, the joined probes can be separated into two separate probes to reach test points up to several feet apart as is often the case in a large industrial electrical panel.